The Planes of Existence
In this setting there are many different parallel worlds called Planes of Existence, which all float together in the same extradimensional space known as the Void. Every plane in this world is technically separate and normally one cannot jump from plane to plane without magical aid. However, some planes occupy the same 4th and 5th dimensional space within the Planar Void, making them part of what is known as a Planar Stack. These stacks were once called by different names, as for the most part each one was a single plane instead of many demiplanes. In such stacks, the planes are like different faces of a die to each other; different aspects of a larger collective body of metaphysical space. It is much easier to traverse across planes within the same stack, and in some cases it can even be done without a high level spell. The stacks themselves drift back and forth relative to each other, making the space between stacks sometimes blurred. The Material Plane and its Echoes Born from the Primal Plane of Substance, these three planes are heavily influenced by the Primal Planes of Stasis, Arcana, Serenity, and Corruption, though each to varying degrees. The Material Plane The heart of the Central Stack, the Material Plane has long been sought as the widest and most coveted of homes for fiends and long protected by celestials. Now it is the most stable of all planes, and is home to many lesser sentient races who have not the power to defend themselves against the full might of the Underworld. Shadowfell The Shadowfell is an echo of the Material Plane, a combination of the influence of the Negative Plane and the wild magic left behind by the World Dragons. It reflects the Material Plane’s terrain almost perfectly, except that in the Shadowfell everything is perverted and twisted, becoming evil or dangerous where its counterpart is beautiful or welcoming. Creatures that live there are either undead, on their way to becoming so, or are corrupted and cursed in other ways. The Feywild Like the Shadowfell, the Feywild reflects the Material Plane, but in this case is influenced by the Positive Plane instead. The wild magic makes everything here become overgrown and magical, and many strange and wonderful creatures make their homes here. Elves loved the Feywild, and frequently spent their time there in days of old. The Transitive Planes Formed from Arcana, the Primal Plane of Magic, these planes in some way overlap all others, and are detached and unswayed by the conflict that the rest of the cosmos feels. Time and space have little meaning in these planes, except where they overlap with other planes. The Astral Sea This plane is less of a plane itself and more like the borderland between every other plane and the Planar Void. It is easiest to access the void and other planes from here, and it in turn is easier to get into the Astral Sea than it is to plane shift from one stack to another. This makes it common for entities traversing the planes to use the Astral Sea as a means of travel, braving its strange entities and dangers for the sake of ease of transport. The Astral Sea is home to many spirits, some of which watch over the Material Plane. These spirits are revered by the Snow Elves and the Northmen. The Ethereal Plane Bound to the same stack as the Material Plane but still quite different, the Ethereal Plane is also known as the Intangible or Invisible Plane. Rifts in the Ethereal Plane do exist, but are hard to detect and are often located in the middle of the sky. The Elemental Planes These planes were formed from Turbulence, the Primal Plane of Power, and largely remain as they were before the Primordial Era began in earnest. The Plane of Fire Home to the famed City of Brass, the Fire Plane is inhospitable to all visitors save fiends and other creatures with a resistance to fire. Stifling hot and incredibly dangerous, and ruled by harsh and treacherous Djinns, it is not a place to be travelled lightly. The Plane of Water Many strange and wonderful things can be found in this plane. It is said that all things that fall into the sea will eventually find a home in the Water Plane. Home to selkies, merpeople, and intelligent dolphins to name a few species, the Endless Sea is teeming with life. However it is also dangerous, for the further out and down you go the more leviathans and hungry creatures you will find. The Plane of Earth Most of the Plane of Earth is a gigantic cave system, peopled by creatures only found here and in the Underdark. Dwarves originated in the Plane of Earth, and they have their greatest cities here. Above (and sometimes in) the massive caves are forests of huge, gnarled trees growing out of the mud and sludge. The Plane of Air What little land there is in the Air Plane is floating, suspended by magic or strong winds for centuries. Cliffs are home to great Rocs and the Aarakocra, and great airships traverse the winds piloted by only the most skilled and perceptive of flyers. For flying creatures, this place is paradise. The Underworld Formed from Corruption, the Primal Plane of Evil, the Underworld still embodies this form today, despite some parts having changed drastically. The force of chaos and disorder is so strong in the stack known as the Underworld that the planes themselves have split and are almost constantly dividing (on a cosmic timeframe) into new sub-planes and realms (known as Layers). Each realm has a fiendish or demonic ruler that presides over it, and these rulers are constantly at war with one another. The Nine Hells Still influenced by the Positive Plane, an island in the middle of chaos, the Nine Hells are the epitome of Lawful Evil in the multiverse. There are exactly nine sub-planes, no more and no less. The ruler of the lowest ring of Hell is Asmodeus, Archduke of Nessus. The Abyss Most of the Underworld consists of the Abyss, a wasteland riddled with every sort of difficult and dangerous terrain imaginable. One might find subplanes galore in a single yawning canyon or in a bog that appears to be smaller than it is in actuality. Pandemonium The Seven Heavens Still called Serenity at times, this group of planes is very similar to its old form as the Primal Plane of Good. Known to most as the Seven Heavens (or simply the Heavens), the sublayers manifest in a more orderly fashion, being influenced by the Positive Plane. These planes are arranged as plateaus and areas on the slopes of a single great mountain known as Celestia, the home of the gods. Mount Celestia (LG) The highest point on this sacred mountain is the heart of all lawful good in the multiverse, and the rest of the planes are arranged by order of their alignment relative to Lawful Good along the height of the mountain. The single sacred mountain of Mount Celestia rises from a shining Silver Sea to heights barely visible and utterly incomprehensible, with seven plateaus marking its seven heavenly layers. The plane is the model of justice and order, of celestial grace and endless mercy, where angels and champions of good guard against incursions of evil. It is one of the few places on the planes where travelers can let down their guard. Its inhabitants strive constantly to be as righteous as possible. Countless creatures aim to reach the highest and most sublime peak of the mountain, but only the purest souls can. Gazing toward that peak fills even the most jaded of travelers with awe. Arcadia (LN, LG) The mountains that surround Celestia make up the kingdom of Arcadia. Castles built upon their alabaster slopes house minor and major deities, while beneath the slopes numerous dwarven kingdoms reside that have existed there since the race was first created. Here, nothing intrudes on harmony and purity is eternal. Everything works towards the common good and a flawless form of existence. The dwarven infrastructure of the realm has been built with this in mind as well - perfectly lined orchards of trees are framed by straight roads free of holes and streams that follow aesthetically perfect paths. Cities are planned in orderly districts and geometric patterns. Bytopia (LG, NG) The two layers of the Twin Paradises of Bytopia are similar yet opposite: one is a tamed, pastoral landscape and the other an untamed wilderness, yet both reflect the plane's goodness and its acceptance of law and order when necessary. Bytopia is the heaven of productive work, the satisfaction of a job well done. The goodness flowing through the plane creates feelings of goodwill and happiness in creatures dwelling there. Elysium (NG) Elysium is home to creatures of unfettered kindness and compassion, and a welcome refuge for planar travelers seeking a safe haven. The plane's bucolic landscapes glimmer with life and beauty in their prime. Tranquility seeps into the bones and souls of those who enter the plane. It is the heaven of well-earned rest, a place where tears of joy glisten on many a cheek. The Beastlands (NG, CG) The Beastlands is a plane of nature unbound, of forests ranging from moss-hung mangroves to snow-laden pines, of thick jungles where the branches are woven so tight that no light penetrates, of vast plains where grains and wildflowers wave in the wind with vibrant life. The plane embodies nature's wildness and beauty, but it also speaks to the animal within all living things. Arborea (CG) Larger than life, Arborea is a place of violent moods and deep affections, of whim backed by steel, and of passions that blaze brightly until they burn out. Its good-natured inhabitants are dedicated to fighting evil, but their reckless emotions sometimes break free with devastating consequences. Rage is as common and as honored as joy in Arborea. There the mountains and forests are extravagantly massive and beautiful, and every glade and stream is inhabited by nature spirits that brook no infringement. Travelers must tread lightly. Arborea is home to many elves and elven deities. Elves born on this plane have the celestial type and are wild at heart, ready to battle evil in a heartbeat. Otherwise, they look and behave like normal elves. Ysgard (CG, CN) Ysgard is a rugged realm of soaring mountains, deep fjords, and windswept battlefields, with summers that are long and hot, and winters that are wickedly cold and unforgiving. Its continents float above oceans of volcanic rock, below which are icy caverns so enormous as to hold entire kingdoms of giants, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and other beings. Heroes come to Ysgard to test their mettle not only against the plane itself, but also against giants, dragons, and other terrible creatures that thunder across Ysgard's vast terrain. The Planes of Duality The Positive and Negative Planes Long ago the Material Plane was the home of the two great World Dragons, who fought ceaselessly in a battle of chaos and order. When the battle was won by Chaos, the forces of good battled Chaos and seemingly slew it too. However these forces were not killed but merely changed. The Positive and Negative planes formed out of the spirits of these two great dragons, and they still battle in balance over the fate of this world vicariously, exerting their influence in the forces of good and of evil. Mechanus Limbo Limbo is a plane of pure chaos, a roiling soup of impermanent matter and energy. Stone melts into water that freezes into metal, then turns into diamond that burns up into smoke that becomes snow, and on and on in an endless, unpredictable process of change. Fragments of more ordinary landscapes - bits of forest, meadow, ruined castles, and even burbling streams - drift through the disorder. The whole plane is a nightmarish riot. Limbo has no gravity, so creatures visiting the plane float in place. A creature can move up to its walking speed in any direction by merely thinking of the desired direction of travel. Limbo conforms to the will of the creatures inhabiting it. Very disciplined and powerful minds can create whole islands of their own invention within the plane, sometimes maintaining those places for years. A simpleminded creature such as a fish, though, might have less than a minute before the pocket of water surrounding it freezes, vanishes, or turns to glass. The slaadi live here and swim amid this chaos, creating nothing, whereas githzerai monks build entire monasteries with their minds. The Extraplanar Void The Void itself is a space of nothingness. Looking into the void hurts one’s eyes similar to looking into the sun, and no Truesight or Darkvision can assist in this. Those who have stared into it for longer than a minute have gone mad, and others claim to have discovered great insights into the nature of the universe. No creature of any other plane, be it undead, fiend, celestial, or other, can survive the Void. However, if a soul should find its way there, something very different occurs. All souls pass through the Astral Sea on their way to their resting places in other planes, and some of these souls never make it out of the Sea itself. If a soul gets lost here for an eternity, and goes to all the wrong places, they may end up falling from the Sea itself into the Planar Void. And, if a particularly powerful soul does this, it will become an Eidolon, an entity from beyond the planes, reborn as a creature of nothingness and bound to the nothingness it draws its powers from. Eidolons cannot re-enter the Planes, but can only reach into the outskirts of the Astral Sea for a short time before their powers fail them. However, they have enough strength to be able to lure travellers to those outskirts and then devour them, resulting in new Eidolon spirits to share in their misery. The Void can be communicated with, and many entities have learned how to do so. The knowledge is extremely forbidden however, and has not had the time to spread. Contracts can be made with Eidolons, using summoning and binding magic to tie them to the summoner’s soul, which is anchored to the Material Plane by their physical body. The eidolon is still bound to the Void and most of its power resides there, but the longer it is bound to the Material Plane the more its power grows. When first summoned, an Eidolon is very powerful, able to utilize much of its resource of magic and energy. As time passes and it is away from the Void, this power fades very quickly and cannot be regained save through time spent on the Material Plane. Category:Lore Category:Meta